(ST. LOUIS): The 13th annual Green Homes Festival returns to the Missouri Botanical Garden on Saturday, June 7 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The festival showcases affordable, practical options for sustainable living combined with positive ways to maintain the health of people and the planet. The Green Homes Festival is included with Missouri Botanical Garden admission of $8 for adults and free for children ages 12 and under. St. Louis City and County residents enjoy free admission on Saturday before noon and are $4 thereafter.

For the first time, the event will be held in the William T. Kemper Center for Home Gardening, Cohen Amphitheater, and its surrounding gardens and grounds. Moving this popular event into the Garden’s blooming walkways will highlight the connections between plant-based green-living ideas and solutions to energy, water and waste issues. Festival attendees completing an event “passport” will get a free gift!

Presented by Ameren Missouri and sponsored by many local partners, this year’s festival features over 70 exhibits and demonstrations by the region’s leading sustainability-focused businesses and organizations. Attendees can talk one-on-one with a wide range of experts about their specific interests and project ideas and learn more about home improvement and healthy homes. Visitors will see a variety of native plant-based NatureScaping ways to save water and “biodiversify” backyards and community areas to restore wildlife habitat. Experts will also share a variety of resources to live healthier and protect the environment while conserving household budgets. Information will also be available on a wide range of topics regarding solar, wind and other renewable energy systems; energy efficient lighting and appliances; cool roof retro-fits; skylights; flooring and plumbing fixtures; efficient windows, insulation and weatherization. Explore ways to protect your budget and the planet with experts in heating and cooling systems; green home building and remodeling materials and methods; home energy auditing; non-toxic home cleaning and decorating products; reducing waste by recycling, composting and creatively “UpCycling.”

Ameren Missouri will showcase a variety of energy efficiency programs that help homeowners and businesses reduce their energy costs and get cash back.

Children and families can have fun building a sun-powered miniature roadster to compete in the popular annual solar car races. Sample treats cooked in solar ovens, and snap photos with costumed recycling characters. Join in recycled arts activities led by local arts groups, explore a “Truck Farm” that grows food on wheels, enjoy face painting, and playing in Monarch butterfly wings.

Bring in electronics and large and small appliances to the free electronics recycling collection. Service provider Midwest Recycling Center (MRC) will recycle “anything with a cord.” Collection takes place 9 a.m. to noon at the drop-off site located at 4651 Shaw, three blocks west of the Garden at Kingshighway.

Learn to grow a healthier environment in your own backyard through water-saving RainScaping with native plants and compost. Explore native plant-based NatureScaping options from Shaw Nature Reserve, Forest ReLeaf of Missouri, St. Louis Audubon Society and other groups.

Discover new ways to “Get Around Green” with cycling safety and maintenance tips, and public transit options. Sponsored by Great Rivers Greenway, this festival focus encourages visitors to cycle to the Garden, using Bike St. Louis routes along Shaw and Tower Grove, which connect to routes through Tower Grove Park, along Grand, and on Macklind Avenue. Cycle to the festival and take advantage of convenient free bicycle parking.

A roster of interactive “Presentations to the People” from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. will cover useful topics including keeping backyard chickens and bees; sustainable investing; solar electricity and solar shingles; home energy efficiency and sustainability of natural gas; interior design for indoor air quality and building deconstruction; preserving the harvest; native plant RainScaping, backyard permaculture, and composting with worms.

Plants take center stage in the Kemper Center for Home Gardening. Master Gardeners will lead walking tours of Kemper Center sustainability features, including an extensive display of house plants, rain barrels, cold frame vegetable gardening, and more. Kemper Center Plant Doctors will be IN! This walk-in service will be available from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. – bring in a plant sample and let the Master Gardeners diagnose your plant problem. Bring your sustainable living questions to the “Planet Doctor,” for consultations with the Garden’s Green Resources Answer Service Volunteers from noon to 2 p.m.

Shop the “HOME Made - HOME Grown” Marketplace” featuring home décor and gifts made by area crafters and produce grown by local farmers. Learn how to transform invasive bush honeysuckle into handsome tables, and see yard furniture made from recycled plastic bottles.

Enjoy local music by Eco Elvis (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and Wack-A-Doo (2 to 4 p.m.) on the Cohen Amphitheatre stage as you stroll the “Eat Well Local” food vendors, featuring healthy treats and beverages from Schlafly Beer, Todd Geisert Farms, Native Pops, and more. The Garden’s Terrace Café, located in the Kemper Center, will offer a menu of sandwiches, salads, beer and wine. Bring your reusable bottle and get free water refills. Recycling and composting will reduce the festival’s “waste-line.”

The Green Homes Festival is included with Missouri Botanical Garden admission of $8 for adults and free for children ages 12 and under. St. Louis City and County residents enjoy free admission on Saturday before noon and are $4 thereafter. Missouri Botanical Garden members are free.

The Missouri Botanical Garden is located at 4344 Shaw Blvd. in south St. Louis, accessible from Interstate 44 at the Vandeventer exit and from Interstate 64 at the Kingshighway North and South exit. Free parking is available on site and two blocks west at the corner of Shaw and Vandeventer.

The EarthWays Center of the Missouri Botanical Garden promotes sustainability through environmental education and improving the built environment, providing green resources for homeowners, businesses, the green building industry, kindergarten through 12th grade schools, colleges, universities and other audiences. Learn more about the Garden’s sustainability efforts at www.mobot.org/sustainability or call the EarthWays Center at (314) 577-0220.

More than 45,000 households in the St. Louis region hold memberships to the Missouri Botanical Garden. Memberships begin at $65 ($60 for seniors) and offer 12 months of free general admission for two adults and all children ages 12 and under, plus exclusive invitations and discounts. Members help support the Garden’s operations and world-changing work in plant science and conservation. Learn more at www.mobot.org/membership.

The Missouri Botanical Garden’s mission is “to discover and share knowledge about plants and their environment in order to preserve and enrich life.” Today, 155 years after opening, the Missouri Botanical Garden is a National Historic Landmark and a center for science, conservation, education and horticultural display.

The Missouri Botanical Garden is located at 4344 Shaw Blvd. in St. Louis, just south of I-44 at Vandeventer-Kingshighway (exit #287B). Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Closed Christmas Day. Grounds open at 7 a.m. most Wednesdays and Saturdays (exception: special admission rate events). Admission is $8; free children ages 12 and under and Garden members. St. Louis City and County residents are $4 and free most Wednesdays and Saturdays until noon (exception: special admission rate events – third weekend of May, Memorial Day 2012, Labor Day weekend and first weekend of October). Park for free on site and two blocks west at the Shaw-Vandeventer intersection. The Garden is accessible via public transportation by taking the MetroLink commuter rail line and picking up a Metro bus (www.metrostlouis.org). For general information, log on to www.mobot.org or call the 24-hour recording at (314) 577-5100 or 1-800-642-8842. For membership information, visit www.mobot.org/membership call (314) 577-5118 during weekday business hours. For volunteer opportunities, visit www.mobot.org/volunteer or call (314) 577-5187. The Missouri Botanical Garden is a tobacco-free environment.